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Company Beginnings Company Beginnings


In 1984, University of Calgary jazz dance department head, Vicki Adams Willis, along with two of her graduating students, Michèle Moss and Hannah Stilwell, originated Decidedly Jazz Danceworks. Their mission was to bring attention to the African American roots of jazz dance and create a concert jazz dance company. The three began their creative work in a one-room upstairs dance studio in Calgary, choreographing, rehearsing, and presenting new jazz dance pieces to live music. Willis encouraged her younger co-founders to study dance in Africa and the Caribbean, in order to develop embodied knowledge of the roots of jazz dance. Over time, they began to offer classes in a variety of dance forms, and eventually developed a dance school to complement their performance work.<ref>{{cite web |title=Distinguished Alumni Award for Lifetime Achievement |url=https://alumni.ucalgary.ca/events/events/2020-arch-awards/vicki |website=University of Calgary |publisher=University of Calgary |access-date=2024-10-16}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web |last1=Shummoogum |first1=Jenna |title=Vicki Adams Willis's Legacy in Jazz Dance |url=https://thedancecurrent.com/news/vicki-adams-williss-legacy-in-jazz-dance/#google_vignette |website=The Dance Current |publisher=The Dance Current |access-date=2024-10-16}}</ref> In 1984, University of Calgary jazz dance department head, Vicki Adams Willis, along with two of her graduating students, Michèle Moss and Hannah Stilwell, started Decidedly Jazz Danceworks. Their mission was to bring attention to the African American roots of jazz dance and create a concert jazz dance company. The three began their creative work in a one-room upstairs dance studio in Calgary, choreographing, rehearsing, and presenting new jazz dance pieces to live music. They received a grant to hire four dancers for two months: Stilwell, Moss, Jill Currie, and Sean Cheesman, and the show's success caused them to extend its run. Willis encouraged her younger co-founders to study dance in Africa and the Caribbean, in order to develop embodied knowledge of the roots of jazz dance. The two took their first research trip to Dakar in Senegal, Africa in 1986 to study dance.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Foggo |first1=Cheryl |title=A Little Jazz on the Prairie: The Heart of Africa in Alberta's Decidedly Jazz Danceworks |url=https://albertaviews.ca/little-jazz-prairie/ |website=Albertaviews.com |publisher=Albertaviews |access-date=2024-10-16}}</ref>

By 1987, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks had ten dancers, all of them full-time. That was also the year that they created a dance school.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Foggo |first1=Cheryl |title=A Little Jazz on the Prairie: The Heart of Africa in Alberta's Decidedly Jazz Danceworks |url=https://albertaviews.ca/little-jazz-prairie/ |website=Albertaviews.com |publisher=Albertaviews |access-date=2024-10-16}}</ref> They offered classes in jazz dance and related forms, while continuing to perform. Over time, they began to offer additional classes in a variety of dance forms. Their school developed both a recreational dance program, and a professional training program.<ref>{{cite web |title=Distinguished Alumni Award for Lifetime Achievement |url=https://alumni.ucalgary.ca/events/events/2020-arch-awards/vicki |website=University of Calgary |publisher=University of Calgary |access-date=2024-10-16}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web |last1=Shummoogum |first1=Jenna |title=Vicki Adams Willis's Legacy in Jazz Dance |url=https://thedancecurrent.com/news/vicki-adams-williss-legacy-in-jazz-dance/#google_vignette |website=The Dance Current |publisher=The Dance Current |access-date=2024-10-16}}</ref>

Revision as of 21:06, 22 October 2024

Decidedly Jazz Danceworks

Overview

Decidedly Jazz Danceworks (DJD) is a Canadian jazz dance company and dance school based in Calgary, Alberta. The company was founded in 1984 and continues to offer regular performances and classes in the Decidedly Jazz Danceworks Centre, located in Calgary’s Kahanoff Centre. The company has performed in various locations in Canada, as well as the U.S. Performance credits include the Toronto Fall for Dance North festival, and Jacob’s Pillow in Beckett, Massachusetts in the U.S. In 2022, the three founders of DJD, Vicki Adams Willis, Michele Moss, and Hannah Stilwell, were inducted into the Canadian Dance Hall of Fame in Toronto, Canada. This award honored their work in establishing the company and their creative contributions to the company since then. In addition, founder and former director Vicki Adams Willis has won both the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Award (2021) as well as the University of Calgary’s Distinguished Alumni Award for Lifetime Achievement (2020). Current director Kimberly Cooper has also been honored with Dance Victoria’s Crystal Dance Prize in 2014 for her dance research in Brazil, as well as the 2002 Emerging Artist of the Year Award from Alberta Dance Alliance.

Company Beginnings

In 1984, University of Calgary jazz dance department head, Vicki Adams Willis, along with two of her graduating students, Michèle Moss and Hannah Stilwell, started Decidedly Jazz Danceworks. Their mission was to bring attention to the African American roots of jazz dance and create a concert jazz dance company. The three began their creative work in a one-room upstairs dance studio in Calgary, choreographing, rehearsing, and presenting new jazz dance pieces to live music. They received a grant to hire four dancers for two months: Stilwell, Moss, Jill Currie, and Sean Cheesman, and the show's success caused them to extend its run. Willis encouraged her younger co-founders to study dance in Africa and the Caribbean, in order to develop embodied knowledge of the roots of jazz dance. The two took their first research trip to Dakar in Senegal, Africa in 1986 to study dance.

By 1987, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks had ten dancers, all of them full-time. That was also the year that they created a dance school. They offered classes in jazz dance and related forms, while continuing to perform. Over time, they began to offer additional classes in a variety of dance forms. Their school developed both a recreational dance program, and a professional training program.

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